The others were talking excitedly about all the features they’d seen, comparing notes on the colors and sights that the moving dawn had brought them.
“I think we should stay up longer next time,” Danirry said during a lull in the conversation. Fiona glanced at Lorana and Xhinna.
“I think it’s too early,” Xhinna said. “Let’s wait until we’ve got the full orbit done, then we’ll see.”
“I think you’re right,” Lorana agreed. She was about to say something more when Jirana rushed up, forcing open a spot between Xhinna and Taria.
“When can I go up?” the little queen rider demanded. “All the queens want to know!”
“Even Bekka?”
Jirana rolled her eyes. “Who do you think sent me?”
“Isn’t J’riz going up now?” Xhinna asked, glancing toward Lorana, who nodded. J’riz was paired with J’valin, rider of blue Nerinath.
“Would there be any chance Bekka would take up another when she goes?” Seban asked.
“If she doesn’t, I’ll take you myself,” Fiona said.
“Bekka’s Pinorth is up to it,” K’dan said. The queen had a tendency—in common with her rider—of over-exerting herself; K’dan made a point of keeping tabs on her.
“Well, then,” K’dan said, gesturing to Jirana and Fiona. “When you’re finished, with Lorana’s agreement, we’ll all take a look.”
They arrived near the Dawn Sisters when they were midway across the Western Isle, nearly over Midriver Weyr, although they couldn’t make it out through the vast expanse of green growth and brown earth beneath them—more green than brown.
Xhinna waved to the surprised riders of Avarra’s wing who had expected to be alone on this watch, while Lorana quickly relayed explanations for their intrusion. Xhinna caught snatches of conversations relayed to her by Tazith, but she was more interested in staring at the view below, trailing her eyes east and west to the extreme edges of the sun’s light, trying to absorb the huge expanse of the vista.
Eight hours, Tazith said. When he caught Xhinna’s surprise, the blue added, K’dan says that we’re seeing about eight hours of sunlight.
All too soon it was time to return. Xhinna waved at the watch riders, and then they went between once more, and back to Sky Weyr.
At the start of the next watch, Xhinna and Mirressa got their image from the last pair of Jerilli’s wing and went up to the Dawn Sisters. Each assured herself that the other was not suffering from oxygen starvation, and then they took quick scans of the new horizon until finally it was time for them to hand off to the next pair.
Three hours later, they repeated the effort, this time seeing a smudge on the western horizon that must have been Benden’s shoreline.
When they went up again, they were right over the mountains that surrounded the Weyr itself.
They can’t see us, can they? Mirressa relayed through her Valcanth to Xhinna.
The Dawn Sisters are bright lights in the sky, Xhinna relayed back by way of answer.
And then, once more, it was time to return earthward.
Back at Sky Weyr, the two dragonriders warmed themselves with klah before Xhinna checked in with her other riders and the two other wingleaders. The initial excitement was waning, but it had renewed at the sight of their home continent.
“We need to start keeping an eye out for Thread,” Xhinna said to Avarra and Jerilli later as the watch riders took post with the dawn over Telgar Weyr.
“I thought we had a month at least,” Avarra protested.
“We can’t be certain,” Xhinna said. “We know that there were dustfalls before the Fall over Benden, Bitra, and Tillek.”
Jerilli furrowed her brows. “Thread fell at three different places?”
Xhinna shook her head. “The fall over Benden continued to Bitra. The fall over Tillek was separate.”
Xhinna could tell that the blue rider was confused. “I’ve asked K’dan if he could draw us a map.”
“Ah, so that’s why he was up with us earlier!” Avarra exclaimed. She quickly explained that the Weyrleader had joined her watch for a while over Benden and was even now up with the Dawn Sisters over Telgar.
Lorana is with him, Tazith added in unbidden anticipation of Xhinna’s thoughts.
Thank you! she replied warmly. Lorana and K’dan were both gifted at drawing, although the ex-queenrider seemed to have more flair than the new Weyrleader.
“So when we’ve followed the Dawn Sisters back here, what next?” Avarra asked.
“Then we start our proper watch,” Xhinna told her. “We’ll need a watch stationary over Benden from sunrise to sunset, the same for Telgar and High Reaches—”
“That should let us see everything there,” Jerilli agreed.
“And we’ll keep the same length of watch here over the Great Isles.”
“We’ll have fourteen hours over the Northern Continent, but only eleven over our own,” Jerilli noted. When Avarra grunted in confusion, Jerilli explained, “We only get eight hours of sunlight in one place; there’s six hours’ difference between Benden and High Reaches, whereas we’ve only got three at best between the easternmost of Eastern and the westernmost of Western.”
“Oh, I see,” Avarra said a bit doubtfully. She glanced at Xhinna. “So how do we manage that?”
“I’m open for suggestions,” Xhinna said, throwing her hands wide.
“No, you’re not,” Jerilli countered with a chuckle. “You’ve already got something in mind and you’d prefer us to come up with it on our own.”
“You’ve been taking lessons from the Weyrwoman, haven’t you?” Avarra asked.
“Actually, I think it’s just general wingleader deviousness,” Jerilli said. Avarra gave her a look, so she said, “Don’t you do the same with your people?”
“I’m still pretty new at this,” Avarra said diffidently. She turned to Xhinna. “So, you have a plan?”
“I think it’s simple enough,” Jerilli said. “We’ve got three hours of slack on this side, so we double or triple up.”
“That’s pretty much what I was thinking,” Xhinna agreed. “I was also thinking that we should stay up longer—”
“How long?”
“How do you feel about five minutes?”
“Nervous,” Avarra admitted.
“If we set it up right, we could have overlaps,” Jerilli said. “That would give us more than one pair at any one moment, and the newer pair could ensure that the older pair was still safe.”
“I’d prefer three minutes and do that as well,” Avarra said.
“I think starting with three minutes makes sense,” Xhinna said.
“Very well,” Jerilli said, “we’ll start with three minutes.”
“The biggest problem is to keep everyone from getting bored,” Xhinna said.
Jerilli gave her an astonished look. “What? Looking at home from so high up?”
“It’s always the same!” Jerilli complained when they met in the evening six days later. “I’m practically wishing something would happen.”
The three wings had performed brilliantly, picking up the new schedule without a hitch and sticking to it steadfastly, despite the difference in time zones and the stress of being up in the lifeless cold near the twinkling stars.
“Why don’t we switch around, so people are looking at different places?” Avarra suggested.
“Because if we do that, we lose the advantage of having people trained to spot differences in the terrain they know so well,” Xhinna replied.
Avarra pinched her lips together in disappointment.
“We can continue with flaming,” Jerilli said.